Of Spectres and Theives
by HaleNewfound
Summary: Kasumi is a thief; Jondum Bau is a spectre. They're different species, but they're attracted to each other. At least that's what Jondum thinks. Rated T for language.


Of Spectres and Thieves

_Run, run, I have to run!_ Thought Kasumi. Her chest heaved heavy breaths and her lungs burned with each amount of oxygen that entered them (if she was breathing oxygen at all).

_Curse you, Shepard and your long lithe legs!_ Kasumi cursed under her breath. _Now, if it were Jacob in front of me, I'd have no problem._ She mused. While caught off guard, Kasumi narrowly dodged running into Jondum Bau, a Salarian spectre who had an oath to arrest her. Ha! As if that would happen!

"Zymandis?" She heard Shepard's voice ring out. Bau tensed beside Kasumi, obviously pissed off (for a Salarian).

"Or should I say, Regards the work of the Enkindlers in Despair?" Kasumi bit her lip to keep herself from giggling as Bau said his name. She heard the Hanar they were going to arrest speak, but she kept looking at Bau. She admired his resilience and ambition to catch him; and he had nice yellow eyes.

Somewhere in her admiration of Bau, Kasumi heard only small bits as the Hanar spoke of serving the reapers because the collectors were their maids, or whatnot.

She leaned in and whispered, hoping Bau wouldn't hear her, "You know, I support free religion for all species, but that's just crazy."

The Hanar kept on about how the Enkindler's work could not be stopped and how he uploaded a virus of some sorts. Next thing she knew, Bau was being choked. Kasumi froze in place. She didn't know what to do. Then it hit her! She switched off her cloak and slid across a desk shouting, "Help him! I'll handle this!" She began typing on the console to see if she could counteract the virus. She heard punches landing and a gunshot as she hacked into the system and deactivated the virus.

A small ding was heard and Kasumi smiled to herself a bit. "Got it! Upload's disabled. Looks like we're in the..." She paused, a red warning sign popped up. "Wait, he's got some kind of failsafe. Get down!" She shouted, running away. An explosion was heard and Kasumi was knocked against a wall. She let out a grunt. She felt her knees buckle beneath her as she slid down to the floor. She activated her cloak to be sure no one found her. If Bau knew she was alive, he'd arrest her! So many years of having fun running from him was too precious to lose.

She heard their voices, Bau's first. "She was here the whole time!" He exclaimed.

Shepard's voice next, clearly acting a saddened voice. She knew! "She was an old friend."

"I intended to arrest her!" Bau chirped.

Kasumi heard Shepard's unhappy voice turn gruff at Bau. "She helped me defeat the collectors, and she just gave her life to save the Hanar homeworld!"

She heard Bau say something along the lines of, "Was an honor to work with you; I'll bring friends next time." She was too overcome with emotion to notice. Shepard truly was a great friend. It was a shame she wouldn't get to see her again...

But instead of leaving, Shepard walked over to a desk, leaning against it. "You can come out now." She called. Kasumi undid her cloaks, shocked.

"How'd you know?" She asked.

She just shrugged. "I had a hunch."

Shepard had that look in her green eyes. Kasumi reacted before she could speak. "There's no way you're recruiting me to fight in a galactic war." Kasumi stated clearly.

Shepard put her hands up in mock surrender. "The Crucible Project needs technical experts."

Kasumi frowned and took a step closer. "I'm not a scientist!" She shot back. Shepard smiled with those big, pink lips.

"No, but you're the best thief in the galaxy and you can hack unfamiliar technology better than anyone." She smiled more. "And just think, all that expensive tech just lying around." Kasumi's interest piqued. "It's not like they're going to check your pockets at the end of the project."

Kasumi let out a small giggle. "You say the nicest things. All right, I'm in." Shepard turned to leave, but Kasumi caught her arm. "And Shep, nice working with you again."

With that, Shepard left; and Kasumi left through the air ducts. She shuffled around until she came to a quiet room on the wards section of the station. If she crawled out, no one would care. At least she hoped. Using her Omni-tool to undo the screws, Kasumi leapt out with grace, landing on her feet in an almost cat-like manner. Only thing is, she landed right in front of a bunch of Salarians. Among them, was Jondum Bau.

Kasumi felt her heart jump as his yellow eyes widened. "You- you're not dead." Kasumi looked herself over.

"Am I not?" She shot back. "Or am I just a figment of your imagination?" Bau narrowed his eyes to golden slits.

"Kasumi Goto, you're under arrest." Kasumi smirked and took a step closer to him.

"You're really going to arrest the woman who just saved the Hanar homeworld?" She challenged, her lips quivering in a large grin. "The woman who worked with Commander Shepard? Mr. Bau, she'd have your head for such a crime." She leaned in more, only inches from his face. She could smell him, hear his breaths. He smelled incredible; like sawdust and vanilla. She leaned closer, enticed by his scent and placed a kiss on his cheek. She felt him tense up and let out a slight gasp.

She pulled away and smirked, taking advantage of his position and skirting around him and taking off. As she ran, not even the wind that whipped past her could take the feeling of his skin off of her lips. It was smoother than it looked and only slightly damp with sweat, or maybe some sort of self-made lubrication of some sorts, like frogs had?

She activated her cloak and dove into a crowd of people to lose him. While in the crowd, Kasumi felt her cheeks heat up with a blush and she gently placed her fingertips on her bottom lip. She'd kissed a spectre! And not only a spectre, but a _Salarian_ spectre! Kasumi felt like a giddy schoolgirl. She couldn't feel like this about someone, especially not a Salarian.

Jondum gasped lightly, feeling her warm lips upon his cheek and when she pulled back, she caught the slightest shade of brown in her glinting eyes.

Brown; such a suitable color. A color he found himself fond of even more now. Once an ugly dark shade of nothing, now a beautiful shining hue. He shook his head to clear his thought of her lips, but to no avail. He only stood there shaking his head like a crazy person.

Jondum's heart beat frantically. Was he sick? Was he dying? Had that thief poisoned him? His throat was dry, his heart was beating at an abnormal pace, and he was sweating profusely. Whatever Kasumi had done to him, it made him feel like a weak structure, holding, but not able to take much more.

He tightened his hands into fists, trying to get in control. He had to find Kasumi, find out what she'd done to him to make him feel such a way.

He gave his men the order to go away and Jondum stood there for a while, placing a hand on his cheek. He could still feel the warm pressure she'd placed on his cheek; the sleek wetness of them, leaving their eternal mark on his face. Jondum shuddered and walked home.

When he got to his rented apartment, he immediately ran upstairs to the bathroom. He needed a shower; maybe a thousand to get the feeling of her lips off his cheek. But no matter how hard he scrubbed, or how hot he turned the water, he still felt the long lasting touch of her lips on his skin.

With a yell of rage, he punched the wall. Something was wrong with him and he didn't know what. Being in the dark made him angry, scared, and wild; he didn't like that one bit!

In the many hours of scrubbing that passed, Jondum gave up and walked out of the shower, gliding back into his clothing. He walked into his bedroom and sat on the edge of his bed, placing his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

While trying to fend off a headache, Jondum heard a sound. A familiar sound. Something between the lines of a sizzle and an electric pop. He knew this noise well. He shot up out of his bed and sure enough, there, lying on her side looking at him (At least he thought she was) was Kasumi.

Jondum scowled at her. "What do you want? How did you get into my house?!" He demanded. Kasumi only threw back her head and laughed.

"Mr. Bau, there's been no lock I've met that could stand against me." She cocked her head to the side and gave him a smirk. Slowly, she got up and walked over to him. Jondum felt terrified. He stumbled back and fell onto a nearby chair.

"Stay away from my, you foul creature!" He shouted. Kasumi only smiled and put her hands up to show she wasn't going to harm him. Jondum watched as her hands slowly went up to her hood and grabbed the edges of the piece of cloth, sliding it down the back of her head. She was revealing her face to him!

What he saw was beautiful beyond compare. She had full cheeks, a slender nose, and her eyes. Oh, her eyes were a dark and solid brown. Her hair was cut to her jawline and curled inward.

"I believe it's time I told you how much I admire you, Bau." She said, her somewhat nasally voice coming out smooth as running water. Jondum couldn't help but stare at her brown eyes.

He got up, feeling his gaping mouth close. "You break into my home just to tell me how much you admire me?" He growled. "This could've been settled over a message."

Kasumi laughed. "I needed to be somewhere where we could be alone." She said, taking a step closer.

"I needed to see you alone." Two more steps.

"I had to see you by myself so I could tell you..." Three more steps.

"I," One.

"Care," Two.

"About," Three.

"You," Four.

And there she was again; only inches from his face, her brown eyes scanning over his pale yellow ones. Jondum's heart raced out of control. She was so close, oh so close. He could feel her own heartbeat thrum from her chest. Salarians never really bothered too much on feelings, but Jondum knew this was one of the rare exceptions.

Kasumi leaned her face in, so slowly he felt as if he'd go mad. And then, he pressed her lips, not of his cheek, but on his own lips! He'd witnessed several humans and Asari doing this. They called it kissing. And now Kasumi was kissing him!

The warm wet pressure of her lips on his was like a burning fire in the pit of his stomach. He felt her fingers trail up his arms and onto the back of his head, pulling him closer, beckoning him for more. This was all very... _alien_ to him. He didn't know what to do!

Somehow out of instinct, he shoved her away but missed the feeling of her body so very close to his. "Ms. Goto..." He paused. They were way past formalities now. "Kasumi... I think you should leave..." He looked down, unable to look into her brown eyes for fear he may go wild. "This is a bad idea."

He felt her hands on his arms again, and saw her face as she tried to get his attention. "I don't seem to think it's a bad idea." She said.

Jondum looked up. "Salarians aren't sexually aroused the same way you humans are. If my body is the only thing you're looking to get at, then this isn't a good idea." Kasumi only smiled and placed a hand on his face. It felt nice to know there was someone who cared about him.

"I'm not looking to get at your body." There was a zap, an orange glow and a giggle from Kasumi. "It's your money, I'm after." And with that, she took off, his credit chit in her hands.

"What? Damn it!" He rushed after her, watching her balance on a window sill. "Damn you Kasumi Goto!" He cursed her.

Kasumi giggled and activated her cloak, disappearing from his line of sight. He ran to the window, shouting out to the wards. "I'll get you Goto! If it's the last thing I do! I swear I'll get you and when I do, I'm going to kill you _myself_!" He roared out.

She was _definitely_ going to pay!


End file.
